2012.03.DD - GnR Paraguay - Interview with Bumblefoot

Here's the interview, THANK YOU for your patience   Hope you & the readers like it   Ron

* Bumblefoot, your debut with GNR was the May 12, 2006, how you felt as a musician debut with one of the biggest bands in the world?

I had been chatting with GNR and throwing around plans, on and off for almost two years, and it all came together in the last moment, with 7 quick rehearsals. Stepping on stage for the first time, I was fine with it all - people are people, I didn't see them as a big band or little band, we were guys makin' music together, anything else was external and other people's perception.

* In a old interview you mentioned that your favorite song is Don't Cry, You learned that song before enter In GN’R or later?

I knew Don't Cry from when it first came out, 15 years before I joined. In the first weeks I joined, fans wrote to me a lot asking if we could play the song - we didn't, so I did. Give the people what they want.

* As a guitarist, who’s your greatest influence and what are your favorite bands?

Eddie Van Halen had the biggest guitar playing influence on me. Inspired me to start building my own guitars, and to experiment with different playing techniques. My first two musical loves were the Beatles and Kiss as a kid. The Beatles made me love music, Kiss made me want to get on stage....

* How did you feel when you play here in Paraguay? What’s your feeling of play in new countrys, not only in “the big ones”? GN’R maked History here in Paraguay!

There's something exciting about playing places I've never been, especially where the band has never been. Had a great time in Paraguay, people were loving.   I was heavily drugged to get through the tour (spine injury from recent car accident) and sometimes the combinations of drugs didn't work so well. After we left Paraguay I found out I was 'growling' at people in the airport, and had stopped breathing a few times on the plane.

* You always followed the GNR even before entering the world of music?

Ahh, I've been in the world of music since before there was a GNR  My first band, demos, gigs, merch, all of that was in the late 1970's when I was 7 years old. I was into Guns from the first time I heard them 25 years ago, randomly flipping channels on the TV at 3 in the morning and seeing the Jungle video for the first time, telling a friend the next day about an interesting band I saw on MTV the night before.....

-What's your opinion about Axl and GN'R? Do you feel comfortable about playing songs that you didn't compose?

I'm very happy to play music the audience wants to hear, doesn't matter who wrote it. Could be written by me, by the guy next to me on stage, or someone that's no longer on the stage, it's all fine, I enjoy playing music. I release my own music and produce other bands, I've written so many songs outside of GNR, between songs I wrote and co-wrote, there's been about 200 songs in the last 20 years that were commercially released and have been played live, been on albums, on radio, TV/film, videogames, other people covering my songs... if I write songs with GNR in the future, even better. I'd like to. This line-up really should be releasing music. For years I've been vocal about my 'wish list', to have the band write one song before every leg of a tour - we hit the studio and bang out a song, we play that song live during that tour, then we do the same for the next leg of the tour. If we did that there would be a full album of music by now. In my own world that's what I would have liked to see happen, but in reality it's more complicated than that, there's a lot of business involved before music can be released. Just my thinking aloud, wishful thinking.

* It's amazing the status, recognition, and sales that have reached the current band. You are in a group which, fortunately, does not sound commercial singles in the FM's, and adapts to any type. Your success are achieving on your own right. How is the level of happiness that has the band to see how this massive success and recognition? How do you feel you individually, and feels the group in general? I don't overthink it. I try my best, and hope people enjoy it.   That simple.   -The Band played Estranged, Civil War, Mama Kin, Death Flowers, did they played that songs for fan's preassure?

We play songs because fans like them, we like them, they're fun to play, all for good reasons  

-Chinese Democracy is the disc of a new band, with new persons. Why the band's playing covers having such a great album? When we're gonna hear There was a Time ,Prostitute or a new song?

On stage I'm ready to play any song off Chinese... or make up any new song on the spot. Say the word, I'm ready.  

Gracias!!

Ron www.bumblefoot.com www.facebook.com/bumblefoot www.twitter.com/bumblefoot www.youtube.com/bumblefoot www.reverbnation.com/bumblefoot http://plus.google.com/108220093051885389549

Soulmonster wrote:He's a good guy. I am not convinced his playing style fits in with how I would like GN'R to sound, though, but I will postpone any judgement until I've heard any songs he has written with the band.